County's only fixed speed camera catches thousands

Seeding drivers were told to pay a £100 fixed penalty or attend a speed awareness course

Herefordshire's only fixed speed camera has caught thousands of drivers over the past two years.

Standing on the A645 Belmont Road in south-west Hereford, the lone camera has caught nearly five speeding motorists a day, West Mercia Police said in response to a Freedom of Information request.

Between April 2023 and March 2024, the camera snapped 1,867 vehicles exceeding the 30mph speed limit.

Of these, 1,650 drivers were offered a speed awareness course option and 81 immediately given the £100 fixed penalty and three points on their licence.

It appears that some drivers declined the speeding course option, as the final number of offenders who accepted the fixed penalty was 433.

More recently in the 2024/25 financial year there was a slight drop to 1,643 speeding offences detected by the camera, leading to 340 offenders so far accepting the fixed penalty.

The fastest drivers snapped by the camera in each of the two years were emergency vehicles: a West Midlands ambulance at 73mph, and a West Mercia police car doing 65mph.

When asked about the sums raised from the penalties issued to other motorists, the information officer said: "We do not hold the information on fines paid as these go to central government."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.